Reflections on 'Art of Photography' course

Now that I have completed the course (with the formal assessment to come in July), I want to draw together some of my thoughts on the course and on how I think that my photography has changed over the last nine months.


When I enrolled for the course, I had limited experience of photography, other than the 'point and shoot' kind using fully automatic camera settings to capture mainly holiday snaps. Although many of the technical aspects of handling an SLR camera I have studied outside TAOP course, the compositional elements of a photograph and the use of light and colour, have opened up a whole new dimension in photography.



I chose a distance learning course because I was living in Spain, and did so for the majority of the course. The presentation of materials was generally good but the course content was in need of updating as there was still a strong emphasis on film (I understand that a new version of the text was introduced late in 2009). The tutor system worked for me and it was particularly helpful that my tutor, Diane Walkey, was flexible about assessing my assignments via my blog. I didn't make enough use of the OCA website and forums and this is something that I intend to remedy on the Level 2 'Landscape' course on which I have now enrolled.



I was very fortunate that a local camera club was set up in my area of Spain (under the leadership of Les Rowe) and this has been an excellent way of learning from an experienced photographer and engaging with like-minded enthusiasts. As well as technical meetings, we have had practical portrait sessions and been on numerous 'field trips', all thoroughly enjoyable. It was initially because of this group that I opened a Flickr account (as 'Citysnapper') as a way for us to share our photographs and Les also encouraged us to enter a photo competition for foreign residents which was held by the local council. As mentioned in a previous blog (28th December 2009), I was fortunate enough to win this competition.

We returned to the UK in November in order to spend the winter in Brighton and I was hoping to join the Brighton Camera Club but, unfortunately, they had had so many new members wanting to join that they had had to put a limit on their numbers and I had to be wait-listed. This was a disappointment, as regular contact with fellow photographers, particularly those with far more experience, is very helpful.



Use of books and magazines has been very important in developing my skills as a photographer. The absence of an English bookshop in our area meant that I relied a lot on Amazon but I decided to subscribe to a couple of monthly photo magazines which could be sent from the UK. These were Photoplus, a magazine for Canon users, and Practical Photography. Both have been extremely helpful and interesting, particularly for the technical aspects of photography.



Of the books that I have bought, the most relevant to the course has been Michael Freeman's 'The Photographers Eye' but my favourite remains 'Within the Frame - The Journey of Photographic Vision' by David duChemin, about which I wrote an earlier blog (10th October 2009). I came across 'Light: Science and Magic - An Introduction to Photographic Lighting' by Hunter, Biver and Fuqua whilst working on the lighting sections of the course and found it very helpful. Finally, Scott Kelby's 'Digital Photography' books have been fun to dip into.

I have enjoyed looking at photographs, both in books and magazines. Tom Beck's book about David Seymour (Chim), published by Phaidon, is excellent and I really like Seymour's photos. I wrote a blog piece on 14th February this year about the puzzle that is his 1936 photograph, originally titled 'Woman at Land Reform Meeting, Estramadura, Spain' but which has been shown also with a title 'Air Raid Over Barcelona, 1939'. A recent collection of the photos appearing in 'Life' magazine over the years is another favourite.

One of the drawbacks about where we have been living in Spain, is the lack of access to photographic exhibitions. However, since coming back to spend the winter in Brighton, I have been able to go to various exhibitions. I wrote about the William Eggleston exhibition in a blog piece on 14th February this year but others which stand out were the John Baldessari 'Pure Beauty' exhibition at the Tate Modern - very quirky, highly imaginative and enjoyable - and the exhibition of 150 years of photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 'Where Three Dreams Cross' at the Whitechapel Gallery - the latter two countries photographs being the most unfamiliar.

So. How has my photography changed over the duration of the course? On the technical side, I am now much more aware of how an SLR works and I always use the 'creative' modes, mainly aperture priority. I always shoot in RAW and use Elements 7 (and RAW plug-in) for any post-production. One of the things that I need to do is to become more familiar with the use of Photoshop and I will start to address this in April when I am attending an RPS weekend seminar in Bath.

On the more compositional side of photography, I have learned a lot from the course, particularly about balance within the frame, use of colour and lighting. I have been far more comfortable taking photographs of landscapes,buildings and urban architecture than 'people' shots, probably because I am not extrovert enough to push myself forward. I also have issues with taking photographs of children (other than our grandchildren) because of current sensitivities within society. This is probably much easier for women than for men but not always. I think of the wonderful photographs of children taken by David Seymour, for instance, and wonder whether he would be able to take some of these today, were he alive.

I have appplied to have my 'Art of Photography' work assessed in July and I have now received the materials for the Level 2 'Landscape' course.